WF?

[hack1of2]

Since this is our first year of winter caching, I’m hoping to get some answers or opinions on the designation of winter-friendly caches. What exactly constitutes a winter-friendly cache? I thought it would mean that it’s pretty much the same difficulty winter or not. But some of the caches we’ve found (or not found) are small containers actually on the ground, buried under snow, but still labeled as WF. Is there an agreed-upon definition or is it very subjective?

Wondering in Wisconsin

[Northwoods Tom]

The illustrious GizFinder of Appleton, my original teacher in geocaching, stated that the winter friendly icon often means above snow depth. In a tree, on a post, fence, etc. He also stated in the same breath that many people choose to define “winter friendly” in their own terms…

Look in the logs. Are people actually finding it in the winter? Often a winter friendly cache falls to the ground from its perch. I’ve looked for magnetics on guardrails that are buried from the recent snow plow. If you search during the winter and find a cache that’s not what you would call “winter friendly”, you can always leave an indication in the log, that’s “If” You Find It…

[Captain and Mate]

Well, this is an issue that has been debated extensively, both here and elsewhere. In our opinion, the crux of the matter is that the snowflake attribute is defined as “available in winter”. Some interpret this as “winter friendly”, meaning that snow isn’t really a hinderance in finding the cache. Others seem to define it as “it’s findable in snow” which might mean any cache is findable if you have a big enough shovel and enough time. Others probably have interpretations somewhere in the middle. One of the best solutions, we think, is for the cache owner to clearly define his/her interpretation right in the cache description. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.

[Mister Greenthumb]

The icon actually stands for “available” in winter.
Technically all caches are available year round. It just depends on how bad you want to get them. The icon is used fairly indiscriminately by lots of hiders. I’ll pick on Earth Angel since we are good friends. Tami has hidden over 60 “WF” hides in the West Bend area since the first of the year. She hid them in winter so she labeled them WF. We have found most of them and if you beat the plow to the area they are WF. Some we dug down 4′ for, but still found them. I think most cachers who have hunted them will tell you that despite being P&G’s they were fun in this winter of never ending snow. I don’t put the icon on my hides unless they are a foot off the ground or a legitimate regular size container. If you can’t find a regular size container that has a recent history of being found you are probably not destined to be a winter geocacher. We have had over 500 logs on caches of ours this winter so it also pays to determine which hiders place caches that can be found year round. If you really want a winter challenge try the 10 new hides that Sunshine and I hid for the upcoming WGA Chili Event. They were all hidden early this year and are well buried now. So get out there and winter cache. It’s more fun than you would imagine. This is Wisconsin.

[labrat_wr]

I have two caches that I definately used the Not Available in Winter snowflake icon as the park is closed during the winter months. Now are the caches there? Yes, and if you wanted to hike a half mile up the hill to the park from the gated entrance through the snow/ice, I guess you could.

The icon is so subjective and way too open for interpretation. sure that PB jar buried under the deadfall covered by 3 feet of snow is available and findable if you happen to dig in the right spot 🙂

Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.

[ecorangers]

Available in winter and winter friendly are not the same thing. Winter friendly hide (to me) means the cache is not on the ground. Available in winter (to me) means it’s not located on premises that are closed for the winter. For example, I have some caches hidden in parks/waysides that are closed during the winter months. Thus those caches are not available in winter. The caches are still there but you could be breaking the law if that park/wayside says it is closed for the winter. I have some by Fox Ski Hill and they ask that hikers stay off the groomed ski trails so I disable those to deter the hikers from getting them. I usually type in the text that the cache is either a winter friendly hide or is not a winter friendly hide. Back in the day….we didn’t have attributes and you had to read the text to see what you were in for.
EnergySaver would take it to the next level and say how many inches it would be winter friendly too. Hope this helps. EA

[The Goldie Diggers]

For me personally I only put the WF attribute on my finds if the hide will not be covered in any snow at all. So a guard rail to me is NOT winter friendly…there is a 50-50 chance it will covered in snow. 1 foot off the ground to me is also NOT winter friendly….not in Wisconsin at least.
I have made an effort the last several years to try and place all my hides
in WF locals. I do have a few on the ground but they are ginormous ammo cans and I didn’t even call them WF. I used to look for the WF attribute as a clue but I never do anymore due to the fact that everyone has their own interpertation. For that matter I don’t look at terrain/difficulty or even hints for the same reason….caching with just coords seems to work better for me as I have no pre-concieved ideas going in.

[The Goldie Diggers]

As a follow up to my last post. One example of how going to find a cache with coords only can work better: I arrived at a cache once where 2 very seasoned cachers had been looking for quite some time. I walked up and proceeded to climb on top of a trash can and reach up into the top of a bus stop, as the cachers were telling me”It can’t be there its a 1 terrain”
just then I produced the cache!…..yes it was a flat terrain that a wheel chair could be rolled up to…..the cache just happened to be 8 feet up!

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